Asian Studies in the Digital Age, Old and New

January 23-25, 2026

The School of Modern Languages at Georgia Tech is excited to host the 65th Annual Meeting of the Southeast Conference of the Association for Asian Studies (SEC/AAS). We cordially invite proposals for panels, roundtables, individual papers, and workshops that encompass, but are not confined to, the theme of “Asian Studies in the Digital Age, Old and New.”

All disciplines focusing on East and Inner Asia, Northeast Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Asian Diaspora, as well as comparative, inter-Asian, and global Asia topics are welcome. Faculty, graduate students, undergraduate students, and independent scholars from all regions are encouraged to share their work, receive feedback, and network at the conference.

Scholars of disciplines focusing on “digital” may consider this to include both our digitally connected world and broader conceptions such as information exchange, data, coding, encoding, media, and technology. Topics may range from ancient systems of communication to emerging technologies, digital cultures, and technology-driven transformations in politics, art, labor, and literature. We also welcome interdisciplinary perspectives that consider how the digital is imagined, negotiated, practiced, and contested as well as discussions of how Asian Studies itself has been shaped by “the digital."

The deadline for proposals is October 31, 2025.

Proposal Acceptance Notification on a Rolling Basis as our committee meets periodically in October and November. The registration link will be announced with the first wave of acceptances.

Conference Hotel: A block of rooms has been reserved at the Hampton Inn at Georgia Tech, conveniently located directly across from campus, only a 1-minute walk to the School of Modern Languages and a brief walk to other campus amenities).

Please direct questions about the conference to our local coordinators, Dr. Paul Foster (paul.foster@modlangs.gatech.edu) and Dr. Amanda Weiss (amanda.weiss@modlangs.gatech.edu)

The image above, “Fujiwara no Yoshitaka” by Utagawa Kuniyoshi made in 1870, is in the public domain and held in the collections of the Rijksmuseum. It can be accessed at https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/200628704. It shows a Chinese mythical figure, Kan Yu, contemplating life under a peach tree—the peach being a symbol of Georgia.